Holiday Accessibility Aging in Place
My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
-Phyllis Diller
Aging in Place
Thanksgiving is the time we get together with folks we haven’t seen for a while–maybe a long while since the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the pandemic has taken its toll on their health. Terms like the “COVID curves” and the “Quarantine 15” (new pounds gained) have entered our culture and consciousness. But for seniors, the isolation can be more detrimental to their health than just gaining some additional weight.
There is a robust amount of evidence that social isolation increases the risk for depression, cognitive decline, and dementia, and directly influences medication and treatment adherence, blood pressure, immune functioning, and inflammation, as well as the ability to conduct activities of daily living (ADL).
Seeing loved ones for the first time in over a year might come as a shock.Events like Holidays can expose the age-related losses or changes with loved ones that make visiting the home a challenge.
Do you know who’s coming to dinner? And are you up to date with their current level of functioning? If you are hosting Thanksgiving, can all friends and family enter your home?
What is Visitability?
Visitability is an inclusive design approach for integrating basic accessibility features into homes.
3 Basic Requirements for a Visitability Home:
- ZERO Step Entrance into the house; front, back, or side
- Doors with at least 32 inch Clear Passage into the House
- One Bathroom on the Main floor with Wheelchair Access
Holidays are a bad time to discover your home is NOT a Visitability Home.
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